1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mask to protect the face of a wearer from injury and more particularly to a mask incorporating a bar grid and molded of a plastic material for use in sports such as baseball and football.
2. Description of the Related Art
Protective clothing, especially protective masks have been used in sports such as ice hockey and football for many years. Examples of previously known face masks formed with a bar grid and adapted for use with football helmets, are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,929,070; 2,944,263; 3,113,318 and 4,631,758. The '263 patent refers to the bars being made of metal rod or synthetic plastic. The '070 and '318 patents refer to the bars being made of coated metal rod and the '070 patent refers to molding the entire face mask of plastic. The '758 patent also refers to forming the face mask of a flexible material.
Although the present invention is applicable to a variety of different sports it has particular significance for baseball. By way of background, baseball uses little in the way of protective clothing except for protection of the position of catcher. However, baseball helmets are especially needed for the vast number of youngsters whom often play in organized leagues such as in a Little League or Babe Ruth League. These youth leagues play with a conventional, relatively hard, baseball, but the players are necessarily less experienced and less agile in their playing capabilities than adult players. A young player, for example, can possibly be hit with a ball which bounces off the ground or by a ball thrown by the pitcher or other player and which could result in an injury.
Helmets have come into use to protect the head of a baseball player as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,596 and which patent also illustrates a face mask attached to the helmet and formed of a sheet-like plastic material. In those types of face masks mounted on helmets which are formed of protective bars, the protective bars typically have a round or modified circular cross-sectional shape. The '758 patent referred to above illustrates bars having a modified trapezoidal cross-sectional shape.
It has now been discovered that the round, modified circular and modified trapezoidal cross-sectional shaped bars are inadequate in many respects. In one respect, the bars are relatively heavy which can cause wearer physical discomfort and which may result in the wearer removing the helmet and attached mask thus exposing himself or herself to potential injury. In another respect, the traditional protective bar has a relatively large solid, circular or modified circular cross-sectional area, from surface to opposing surface the bar is relatively thick, and when molded of plastic has a tendency to promote air bubbles that are trapped inside as a result of the manufacturing-molding process. These bubbles in turn may cause the bar in which they are contained to fracture upon impact and thus expose the wearer to the forceful impact of the incoming object as well as possibly to incoming splintered face mask material. Thus, mask bars of conventional cross-sectional shape often lack the strength to adequately protect the wearer. Also, a substantial amount of material is used in bars of conventional cross-sectional shape which adds to the cost of the mask. In response to this need for improvement, the mask of the present invention provides a bar grid type face mask with protective bars of unique cross-sectional rib-like shape which can be made with less material at less cost, and made stronger than is the case with protective bars of traditional cross-sectional shape.
The present invention recognizes that by providing the player, particularly a young player, with a mask which tends to prevent injury to the face of the player, the player is able to play better, enjoy the game more and learn faster all as added benefits.
It is a therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved bar-type mask which protects the face of a young player from injury.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a face mask having protective bars which are lighter, are made from less material, and are stronger than previous face masks.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a face mask which assists a player to better use his or her abilities by reason of reducing the likelihood of injury.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.